"Merry Christmas with Awesome Members and An Awesome Testimony of the Gospel."

BLOG!

 

Hey everyone! Oh what a week this one has been. It always throws you for a loop when you have a holiday in the middle of the week, but we keep going strong! Honestly there isn't much to talk about this week... but let me give you some highlights!

 

1. CHRISTMAS!!!! Christmas was a really good day. We definitely started our day by jumping out of bed and saying "HAPPY CHRISTMAS" in the good old fashion Brittish way! We had a great day saw A LOT of members and ate A TON of food. So that was good! And its always good to chat with the fam as well! I must say, I am so grateful for the members up here! They just accept us into their families. It was so nice to be able to spend time with people who helped us feel at home! 

 

2. Floyd was finally confirmed! Floyd is officially a member of the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Hurrah! Floyd is such a great example. When we told him that we were bummed that he would have to wait a week to be confirmed he just said, "Well, the Lord has a plan!" It was really great of him. Also he has been making everyone in his household watch the church movies we give him! So good. He's already on his path to missionary work! 

 

3. We FINALLY got in contact with some of our really great investigators! WE had some really powerful lessons and the spirit was there! We just keep praying that we will be able to start to get people to progress!!!!

 

Well, those are the highlights :) In all honesty, this week has been really hard. I've been pretty stressed and I've just been trying to deal with all that stress! But this morning, I was thinking about my testimony and this is what I wrote down and want to share with you all :)

 

I feel like it really strengthens me to think about Joseph Smith. Not only his example and all he went through, but what he did. I especially love thinking about The Book of Mormon.

 

 Whenever I doubt, there is one thing I know for certain, Joseph Smith did not write the Book of Mormon. There is no way a 14 year old boy in the 1800's could sit down and write that book in a matter of months. It would be impossible even for the greatest of scholars and writers. Even they couldn't mimic such a book. And thats because its true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know it. 

 

Knowing this simple truth creates a snowball effect for the rest of my testimony. Because, since the Book of Mormon is true, that means Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. And so is Thomas S. Monson today. It means that God loves me and will always be watching out for me. It means every other aspect of the gospel is true. And how could it not be? Does anyone have a convincing reason not to believe? Oh sure, It may at times seem easier, or more fun, or less work, but think of how much joy comes from the gospel. Think of those times when you felt that peace and saw that change in someones, (even your own), eyes. Has living the commandments ever made you sad? I know this church is true, and even if it weren't there, there is nothing better to turn to. Where else will you find such high standards and people willing to follow them? Where else will you find such a strong spirit? Where else will you turn if not to God? The dark and lonely paths, the great and spacious building, NEVER leads to the fruit and joy of the tree of life. 

 

So, though the fog may at times be heavy, though the pull to let go of the rod may be strong, you hang on. Because hard as it may seem, it will only get worse if you let go, and easier if you hang on. I know Christ is my Savior. I know because of him, I CAN DO HARD THINGS. This is the truth. Never let go. 

I love you all and I love the gospel and being a missionary! 

 

XOXO,

Sister Langford

 

 

"In Ice & Snow, the Baptism must go on!" "I'm 20!" & "Service increases the Christmas Spirit!"

THE BLOGGGGGG...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Oh my goodness where has the time gone? Its Christmas THIS WEEK. Can I say I'm pumped? Anyway, this week has been very eventful so get ready to hold on to your seats. Shall we begin?

The random facts:

1. ZTM. Aka Zone Training Meeting was good times. We made the long (10 minute) drive to Potsdam in the -15 degree weather. Good times. But we had a very uplifting meeting focused on the Christmas season... so no complaints.

2. Exchange with Sister Reid! Sister Reid is the greatest and our exchange was so fun! She got to come join me in the lovely town of Norwood. I had my first opportunity to take over the area and it went really well. A random family ended up letting us in and then pelted us with 1000 questions while one of the teenagers tried to get us to swear. Good times.

3. Caroling. That's right. We joined the Young men and women in a nice caroling extravaganza. it was fun, and cold, and very Christmas spirited.

4. So good news everyone. St Lawrence County was under a "state of emergency" due to a serious ice storm. So what does that mean? We weren't allowed to drive our car or really go anywhere for 2 days. It seriously put a damper on our missionary work. It was like this, imagine the entire town of Norwood covered in a 1/4 inch of ice. #icestorm. And then it was like this, frozen hair, canceled church, and slippery side walks. It made for a good weekend is all I'm saying. THANK GOODNESS they lifted this state of emergency so we could go out today! To quote one of the elders here, "In my time in the North Country they have over reacted about EVERY storm. So you are fine."

5. This morning we spent an hour digging our car out of the snow. So I'll let you decide what I think about the weather up here.

The work:

1. Oh my gosh FLOYD WAS BAPTIZED! It was such a blessing that it ended up going ok! A huge storm came in and EVERYONE was telling us to cancel it. But we said, "Nope. if Floyd can get here, the show goes on!" Well thank goodness he made it! There was such a sweet simple spirit as we watched Floyd enter the waters of baptism. I will be forever grateful I could be part of his journey.

2. Can I just say, the Lord truly blesses us when we are willing to do whats hard. On Sunday morning we were feeling really bummed. Church had been canceled so we had NO IDEA what to do all day... especially consideting the looming ice storm. Well, we finally concluded that we should just go out anyway and see who we could find in Norwood. THE FIRST potential we tried to see let us in. We had a super awesome lesson with her. She said she wanted to learn more and that she wanted to read the Book of Mormon. Here's praying we can help her and her family progress! She reminded me so much of Trish and I couldn't help but think of Trish's progression in the gospel and hope the same for this woman!

3. We picked up a new investigator! Her name is Brandi. She is 9. She is crazy yet endearing. Did she remind me of Emmalee? Maybe. Anyway, we met her through her grandma. Also, Brandi tends to think that sister missionaries are really, really, really, great.

December 22nd:

YOU GUYS I'M TWENTY.

Huge shout out to everyone who sent me birthday cards and gifts. You made the day good! Even though the day was spent trecking through the snow it ended up being a real good day! In the evening one of the members in our branch came and picked us up (since we still weren't allowed to drive) and we and a nice birthday dinner! They even made me a cupcake tower! It was very fun and made my birthday great! So grateful to have such awesome members here in Norwood!

The Christmas Spirit:

So here's a story. This week I had been praying for two things

1. Charity towards this one investigator of ours

2. To feel more of the Christmas spirit.

Well thank goodness Heavenly Father answered both of those prayers. We were in a lesson with said investigator and they were going off about how hard Christmas was going to be this year, how their paycheck had been cut and how they didn't know what to do. All of a sudden I had an overwhelming feeling of peace come over me and I thought, we need to help this family out. Some how, we need to help. As soon as we walked out of the lesson I told Sister Bezzant what we needed to do. Lucky for me she goes along with all of my crazy plans. So we contacted the local food pantry and got A TON of food. Then we went to some stores and bought a couple of little presents for them. Then we did a secret drop off. I don't want you to think I'm telling this story because I think what we did was cool or whatever. I know that this was an opportunity from Heavenly Father to become better. I know that he answered my prayers by giving me a chance to grow. That chance to serve helped me gain more charity towards this investigator, and invited the Christmas spirit into our missionary work. I know that if we ask, Heavenly Father will give us chances to be better. To learn and to grow. We need only act.

I am so grateful for this Christmas season where we can grow closer to Christ and remember his birth. To quote President Monson, "To better understand the Spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last

syllable and it becomes the Spirit of Christ." I know we can all have the spirit of Christ in our hearts all year long!

Thank you everyone and HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS

XOXO,

 

"Weak Northerner Effort, Sister Sleepover Fun, Christmas Pageants, Christmas Blessings when we sacrifice for others."

THE BLOGGGGG!!

Well hello there. 

This week was rather eventful so hang on to your seats. Are you ready for all the news? Ok good. 

The randoms:

1. YOU GUYS. It snowed a ton here. Literally one ton. Haha just kidding. But it happened over night. Saturday night we go to bed with some light flurries of snow fall, the next morning... BAM. we are spending 45 minutes shoveling our car out of our drive way. Plus I must say that I was disappointed by the North Country's weak effort at braving the snow. Only 25 people came to church (and keep in mind that 8 of those people are missionaries). Lame. I expected more from these Northerners! 

2. This week I got to go on a wonderful exchange with the lovely Sister Miller. I spent a lovely day in the village of LAKE PLACID. Lake Placid is so smooth. It's like New York's version of Park City. So cool. They even held the winter olympics there in the 80's. Its cool.... literally. But it reminded me of home to be tucked into the side of the Adirondack Mountains. Also, I found a ice sculpture there... and a Gap. So that was all very exciting. 

3. Pageants! I swear Christmas pageant's are the missionary event of the season. Thus far we have attended two, and will be attending another tonight. So that's good. The one our church put on was very cute. But want to know what the best part was? SISTER CHURCH (MTC comp) and SISTER SMITH (trainer) CAME AND THEN WE HAD A SLEEPOVER AND IT WAS SO FUN! and that's all. 

The jokes:

1. While eating dinner with a member they told us we needed to "rock and wiggle" like a sumo wrestler to stretch out our stomach's so we could eat more. um....

2. "I'm makin' a Birthday cake for Jesus. So ya'll had better be there!" - (how we get invited places for Christmas). 

3. "His house should probably be condemned....but he has a sweet dog so..." - Elder

4. "He looked exactly like Floyd.... except he had a mustache so he was way different" - Elder

The uplifting:

1. FLOYD IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS WEEK! He is very excited and so so so ready. I'm so happy I can be here when this happens! Its weird to not have taught him the entire time, But I still know that there's a reason I'm here now! I'll keep you posted on how the baptism goes!

2. New investigator.  This lady  is probably the coolest investigator ever. Her mom was recently baptized. At her baptism, she felt the spirit so strong and realized she needed it in her life too. Since then she has been so solid and amazing. We had a really great lesson this week with her. Here's praying we can help her make the changes necessary to partake of the gospel! SHE IS SO GREAT!

3. So here's a cool story. Sister Bezzant and I were out trying to contact potentials. Well we go to a potentials house, knock on the door.... wait. Then we hear someone yell "COME IN!" (ugh. I hate it when people say that. like hello awkward situation. They act all surprised when you walk in and they are like "who are you?" and I'm like.... um you don't know me.... I don't know why you said come in. Awkward!) So anyway, we enter the house. The lady comes over and we ask for the name of the potential. Well she says "Sorry he doesn't live here." So then like any good missionary would, we start telling her who we are. She goes, "Oh you're Mormons? I love Mormons and the Mormon religion! My aunt is a Mormon and I used to live in Palmyra!" I'm sorry what?  Anyway she was in the middle of dinner but hopefully we can teach her soon! its those small tender mercies that keep me going you guys. 

...and a Christmas message:

So hey did you know that Christmas is in 9 days? Crazy. I'm getting way excited that's for sure! But this week we were told an incredible Christmas story. 

Let me set the stage first...

That morning I was having kind of a rough day. Like just feeling kind of blah. So I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me feel his love and recognize my purpose more. Then for lunch we went to a member's home, Sister Bond. We shared a Christmas message with her then after we were talking. She said "Sisters, I want to tell you my favorite Christmas memory and how I know God love us and blesses us."  So we consented and she began to tell this story....

It was many years ago. Back when her now grown boys were just kids. Sister Bond was very low on money and didn't know what she was going to do for Christmas. She pooled all her money and realized she would only be able to buy maybe one gift each for her boys. She went to her sons and told them they could pick one thing that they really really wanted for Christmas. She left the boys to think about it. A few minutes later the oldest boy came out and said "Mom, do you think we would have enough money to buy gifts for the family down the road?" The family down the road was struggling even more than they. The Bonds had tried to help them out on previous occasions as well. Sister Bond thought for a minute then said, "Yes, we could do that. You realize that means you wouldn't get any gifts for Christmas right?" They said that was ok. The boys had a wonderful time as they went to the store and picked out presents for the family down the street. They wrapped the presents and then a few days before Christmas, anonymously dropped them off at the family's door. 

The next day, Sister Bond was in the kitchen when she heard a knock on the door and a car speeding away. She went out to see who was there. When she opened the door she saw a huge box FULL of presents for her boys. Each boy ended up getting around 8 or 9 gifts. 

Sister Bond then told us that that single memory has meant more to her than any other Christmas story. She knew that because they sacrificed and did what the Savior would do, they were blessed. She said that she knows that God is there. That he is willing to bless us. That he loves us. That when we do what's right he will always, always bless us. 

That story touched my heart and I knew that it was an answer to me of how much Heavenly Father loves each of us! I know that if during this Christmas we focus on giving to our Savior we will be blessed 100 fold. 

And that was the week. :) HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY :)

xoxo,

Sister Langford

 

 

"Didn't end up at Arby's cuz I love Roast Beef", "Building an Ark," and....Invitation to Sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!"

Blog Blog...

Hello!

Well, another week has passed. I feel like this week was waaaaay busy.... yet there is nothing to talk about. Basically the week was filled with driving and meetings and snow and meetings. Don't worry. We did some missionary work in the midst of all that. Wanna hear about it?

OK. Here are the random goods....

1. MLC. So this week we drove all the way to Utica for Missionary Leadership Council. It was definitely good times. Only bad news is that its a 3 1/2 hour drive. So within two days we were in the car for 7 hours. Awesome!!! Also, we took the Elder's truck and crammed 6 missionaries into it. So that was pretty rough. Buuuuut..... we had some really great times.
   

      - Utica! Thursday evening when we arrived in Utica we got to hang out and work with the Utica sisters which was a blast. One of my friends from the MTC is currently serving in Utica so we had a ton of fun together. We taught this less-active member who was seriously exactly like Minnie from "The Help" except she was like 85. She was fantastic. She made us watch the movie "Together Forever" (it's pretty cheesey).  I definitely recommend it if you are looking for some quality entertainment.

      - The meeting. MLC ended up being very motivating and inspiring! I'm very excited to start putting my STL (Sister Trainer Leader), duties into action!

     - The drive home. On the way home we had an awesome experience. We were driving and naturally got pretty hungry. (3 1/2 hour car rides do that to ya).  We decided to stop at Arby's. Well we went in and ordered our food and all was well. Well then out of the blue the cashier looks at me and says, "I feel really embarrassed. I know that I need to go back to church." We are all like.... "um... sorry what?" Apparently her daughter is an active member of the church and for a long time she was going every week (never baptized though).  She was like, "I guess this is the Lord's way of saying its time for me to go back!" So cool! The Lord definitely puts us in the right place at the right time!

2. Ok are you ready for the very, very, very, best moment of this week? Good.

We enter the lesson with our investigator. He seems very subdued for some reason. We are confused.
We sit down and say, "Hey! How have your prayers been going? Gotten and answer yet?"
He says "Well I have a story for you. I wanted someone to build me an ark." Naturally we are confused.
We are like... "What?  an ark?"

He said, "Yes an ark. An "Act of Random Kindness." He said, "I told God I would know the Book of Mormon was true if someone gave me one random act of kindness. The next day, I got a letter from Sister Blevins, (the sister who was here before me), and I knew that was the random act. That was my answer. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I'm ready to get baptized."

We were stunned.

So the news is..... HE IS GETTING BAPTIZED DECEMBER 21ST!!!

How happy is that? It was the sweetest moment ever though when he said the closing prayer and he said, Thank you for the Sisters and that I could tell them that I know the Book of Mormon is true!" I probably cried. It's moments like that that make it all worth it.

And that was the week. We also taught many other lessons. All of which were great, but not much to say. I truly am blessed to be here in Norwood working with these amazing north country people! love it.

....and here's the laughs.

1. "Hey brother Tabor! I told you that you could sing!" - me

"Ya he's so good that a couple of years ago the Mormon Tabernacle choir invited him to join in" - Branch President

"Really.... cool!" - me

"Ya... well they actually invited everyone to sing. You know... when they put the words on the screen..." - Brother Tabor.

2. Literally EVERY SINGLE DAY since I have been in Norwood someone has commented on my height. EVERY DAY. It's good times.

3. "Norwood. A nice place to live" - said in a brittish accent by Sister Wilson

Well, that's all for this week. I guess I better start stomping through the snow storm again! Haha!!

BYE NOW,

XOXO,

Sister Langford 

"Attack of the Killer Bird, Giant, Tall Saprano, & Potsdam temp is Cold but the members are Warm."

Hello everyone.

Well, needless to say, this week was absolutely crazy. But the good kind of crazy... right? Ok. So here is the news:

1. Goodbye to Cooperstown.
The week started out pretty sad. Just saying goodbye to everyone in Cooperstown. I definitely cried when I drove away from Grandma Dorothy and the Hopkins. It's hard to say goodbye to all these amazing people who have changed my life. But, I know Cooperstown is in good hands.

So here's the crazy story from my last day in Cooperstown. Sister Hansen and I were going to Grandma Dorothy's/Bruneau's for dinner. Well we went to knock on the door and all of a sudden a bird comes flying out at us and freaking out. Since it was stuck under a covered porch, it couldn't get out. All it could do was freak out and poop on us. So we are screaming and trying not to get hit by this bird. The Bruneau's thought for sure we were getting murdered out there. Toooo good.

2. Hello to Potsdam!
Ok here's the thing. Potsdam really is cold. Like way, way, way, cold. I should have listened to all these people. Bah, but it's ok because I also love it up here in the North Country. Here's whats happened so far....

 

-Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was great. We went to a couple of member's houses, the Tabors and the Garfields, who were so great and we died laughing and playing uno and.... it was one of the most fun times I've had with members on my mission. What I'm saying is, the members here are great and they make really good pumpkin pie :)

- Mr. F. Ok so Mr. F is the coolest investigator up here in Potsdam! He is great, comes to church every week and now we just have to set him up with a baptism date! We had a really powerful lesson with him about recognizing the spirit! We are really excited for his baptism. Also, he says he can tell just by looking at someone if they are a convert or a life long member. He knew I was a life long. I don't know how. Dang it.

- A less-active told me the first thing she thought when she saw me was, "She looks like Taylor Swift," so that made my week. Then when I told her I met Taylor Swift, we became best friends.

- One of our investigators daughters made me a friendship bracelet. (I'm really getting in with these north country folks).

...and that's basically the random goods.

 

Are you ready for funny things now? Good.
- *Investigator's 6 year old, daughter*
"What?! You can't be a missionary! You are waaaay too big! She's like a giant!"

--*Standing up while singing in the choir*
"Oh wow! You are the tallest soprano we've had in a while."

(I don't know why people up here can't get over my height. It's like they've never seen a tall person).

- Brother Tabor- "Hey are missionaries allowed to have snow ball fights?"
Elder- "um.... I don't think so..."

Brother Tabor- "Perfect. You will be defenseless. Hey elders, wanna come outside for a minute?"

Anyway, so far so good in Potsdam! I'm hopeful for this place and excited to see how things go! Ready for trudging through some serious snow :)

XOXO,
Sister Langford

 

"View of the Northern Lights, Potsdam Winter, New Calling, Missing "the Coop" but "All is Well!"

THE BLOG.

 

 Hey everybody. After a week of canceled appointments, sliding in the snow, notes left on doors, frozen eye brows, and amazing miracles, Saturday came.

 

Let me give you a little run down of how Saturday went.

 

6:30 am. wake up. First thought that runs through my head, "Oh my gosh we get transfer calls today." Needless to say, I was stressed. This phone call basically determines your life. All morning Sister Hansen and I are stressing, yet telling ourselves that we are staying and that we won't get a phone call until late at night.

 

9:30 am. The phone rings. It's President Wirthlin. He tells Sister Hansen that she is staying and that she is becoming a Sister Trainer Leader. Then he pauses. "Hang on, let me find where Sister Langford is going...." I'm on edge. Probably going to pass out. "Oh Sister Langford, you are going to Norwood, Potdam branch..... oh and you are also a Sister Trainer Leader..."

 

WHAT?!?

 

So that's the news kids. I'm going to Potsdam and I'm going to be a Sister Trainer Leader.

 

Here are the things I've heard about Potsdam. (Aka what every single person has told me)!

 

-Its cold.

-I'm going to freeze.

-I will turn into an Eskimo.

-I better have a warm coat.

-I will probably be able to see the northern lights.

-It's cold.

 

and my personal favorite...

 

-that sounds like a really gross soup.

 

So yup. Potsdam is waaaaaaaay up near the Canadian border. Haha perfect place for winter. But in all reality, I'm way excited to be going there. As for being a STL, (Sister Trainer Leader), I'm way nervous. I've been having a lot of anxiety about the whole matter, but I also know that I can be strengthened through Christ.

 

This morning while getting ready the song, "Come, Come, Ye Saints," came on. The second verse hit me hard...

 

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?

Tis not so; all is right.

Why should we think to earn a great reward

If we now shun the fight.

Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.

Our God will never us forsake;

And soon we'll have this tale to tell-

All is well! All is well!

 

I know that I had been ready to fly the "Coop" and how I was ready for all this, but it's still nerve wracking and overwhelming. I know that I will need that fresh courage and strength from my Heavenly Father. This is a time for faith not fear. I think what I have really learned this week more than anything else is that God loves me. That this is His plan.

 

And despite some of the hard-times in Cooperstown there will be so much I will miss. As I got up to bare my testimony for the last time in the Oneonta Branch I was truly hit with the realization that these people have changed my life. That because of what I have done, how I have served, the trials that have come, I am a different person. I am so grateful for the people here. Especially Grandma Dorothy who bakes us cookies and tells us stories and glows when we read the Book of Mormon. And the Hopkins family who is going to the temple this week to do baptisms for their family. Especially them.

 

I am excited for this new chapter of my mission in the frozen tundra of Potsdam where I will be able to see Canada. I love the gospel. This church is true. Amen.

 

XOXO,

Sister Langford

 

" Not coincidental, puppies & cocoa, Mr. Clean & the Plan of Salvation & Patience in our trials."

THE BLOG...

 

Hey everyone.

 

So another week has come and gone. Did I not write this blog like, yesterday? Anyway, this week happened. There were some ups and quite a few downs, but we keep the faith. Keep going as always.

 

So lets talk about the ups...

 

1. We did have a really cool experience this week. So we were going to find a less-active who lives in the Elder's area, but the Elders have been sick and couldn't visit her. Well, it was really crucial that we visited her that day, but she wouldn't answer her phone... so we had to go by the random drop by tactic. Well we were on our way, and our GPS took us a really weird way to get there. All of a sudden I had a strong feeling that we needed to stop at this house, and knock on the door 3 times. Well we go to the house (which looks minorly abandoned) and knock.... once..... twice...... three times...... no one comes. So we get back in the car and drive on. And I'm thinking, well why did we stop here? The house was clearly abandoned. No one was coming. We just wasted all that time for nothing. Well, right then we pulled in front of this Less-actives house. Literally one second later, she pulled up behind us and got out of her car. We jumped out of our car to talk with her. Well we had a good chat and set up and appointment. Just as we were leaving she said, "Wow, it's really lucky you stopped by right now. I was going to a doctor appt and had come back to grab my phone. You caught me in this 1 minute window!" That was pretty humbling. We may not always know WHY Heavenly Father inspires us to do things, most of the time we won't, but if we trust that the Lord has a plan for us, it will all turn out ok :)

 

2. So whenever our District Leaders call us at the end they say, "Is there anything we can do for you?" (remember how we got them to sing?) Well, recently we asked for "puppies, hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies" just as a joke of course! Well they show up at District meeting with a box of hot cocoa, a bag of chocolate chip cookies and these little rubber puppies. It probably made my week.

 

3. Well, here's the news kids, we find out about transfers this week. Well I was sitting in the car with a member and all of a sudden I realized how much I am going to miss the people of Cooperstown when I leave. I mean, of course there have been struggles, but I truly realized how much I love the people here. Especially people like the Hopkins and Grandma Dorothy. So, its not like I'm saying I'm for sure getting transfered or anything, but when it eventually happens, I will be sad, but also comforted to know that I did my best to help them!

 

Some not-so-ups....

 

1. So... this week was hard. I sometimes feel like I don't know why more amazing things aren't happening. Sometimes I just feel like, "WHY DOES NO ONE CARE!" It can be rough when you work your hardest all week and only teach one lesson. ya. But throughout this week one thought has really stuck with me

 

"Its always darkest before the dawn."

 

Sometimes we think we can't do it anymore and its right then, that God lets us know what we can do! When looking at this week from a day to day perspective, it was rough. When looking at it from an eternal perspective, it was a chance to grow. A chance to develop more faith and patience.

 

Patience: The capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. To do God's will and accept His timing.

 

"....and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord" - Mosiah 24;15

 

"... We count them happy which endure..." - James 5:11

 

I do have faith that through Christ, we can be strengthened. No one said every day of this life was going to be amazingly, spectacularly easy. To quote Jeffrey R Holland "Welcome to the church. Welcome to the gospel. Welcome to the life of apostles and prophets. Welcome to the life of the Savior who knows quite a bit about cups from which one does not want to drink." I know that our situations may not always change and get easier, but WE can change ourselves. We can have more faith, patience, hope, and trust in the Lord. We can be happy not despite our trials, but because of them :)

 

Ok who is ready to laugh?

 

1. " Our most progressing investigator thinks he is a wizard!" - Elders

 

2. "Good news sister, today its a toasty 38 degrees!" - Sister Hansen

 

3.     *while teaching the Hopkins the Plan of Salvation*

 

        "But what about the people who are in Jail when Christ comes?" - Travis

 

         "Well Jesus isn't going to let them out!" - Jamison

 

        "So our bodies will be completely perfect!" - me

    

        "Like Mr. Clean perfect?" - Travis

 

4. "I think you are a rad missionary!" - Sister hansen

 

     " fat.... but rad." - me

 

 

So that was the week. Aaaah. We keep on keeping on! Have a blessed week :)

 

Mmmmmmm bye now.

 

 

XOXO,

Sister Langford

 

Service Brings Blessings & Seek out the Mini-Miracles and Tender Mercies!!

Blog!

Hello everyone! It was another crazy week in Cooperstown. (just kidding, it really wasn't very crazy at all). But, some really great things did happen, so you probably want to know about them.

But first can I just say that I need to have a chat with whoever decided all these random holidays should be placed on Mondays. And then who decided that all the libraries are closed. Like what's with that? Don't they know that missionaries need to email? cmon.

Ok but for real. Here are the Cool missionary joys:

1. Ok. So remember last week how we felt prompted to rake that ladies leaves and it led to good things? And remember how she was like "Hey! I may have a friend who could use some help too!" and remember how we thought that we would never hear from said friend? Wellllllll.... SHE CALLED US!  And get this, her husband is a former investigator. Like seriously, what are the odds? So we went over and helped her bake cookies, (sister service), and we got to talk with them quite a bit. Who knows what could come of it! We are going back this week to help her again! #blessings

2. I got to go on exchange again to HAMILTON! which was the greatest. We had some good times, taught some lessons and learned a ton! I'm always grateful to see new places and learn from other missionaries :)

3. Well, you were probably wondering about the Hopkins family. Haha! maybe not. But here are the amazing things that have been happening with them...

    - Trish is loving her calling, and has been talking to tons of people about being Mormon. Its great.

    - Our branch president gave Ray a calling in boy scouts even though he isn't a member! and better yet, RAY ACCEPTED!!

    - Cody tried to give a Book of Mormon to one of his teachers! How cool is that? The teacher gave it back to Cody, but hey, A for effort.

The Hopkins are the greatest :)

4. We had a really cool experience last night. We went over the the Bruneau's to eat, but we had a bit of extra time so we went over to see Grandma Dorothy (she hasn't been feeling very well).  So we read with her a chapter in the Book of Mormon, just right where she was reading. It ended up being the most perfect chapter on The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit was so strong and you could just see and change in Grandma Dorothy when we were done. Its crazy how the Lord really does answer our prayers through the scriptures!

5. We also found a really cool potential named Jeff.

6. And we re-picked up a  family as investigators. We had been teaching them when I first came out but things got.... crazy! But we are back to teaching so hopefully good things to come! Its so cool how the Lord has been blessing us and helping us fulfill our goal of at least one new investigator a week! So far its happened every week!

Random events...

1. You guys. I'm not even kidding right now. IT SNOWED. like, stick to the ground, freeze your eyelashes, snowed. It was crazy. BOO FOR WINTER!

2. One day we were walking down main street trying to talk to people, and we see this really well-dressed guy. So we think, hey let's talk with him about the gospel. So we round up our courage and go 'hey!" and he says "Hey sisters! I'm a bishop in Rochester, want to go to lunch?" Haha! what? A lot of crazy little blessings :)

The Giggles....

1. "oh don't worry. The keys are in the purse, but not of the purse" - Sister McGregor (on exchange in Hamilton)

2. We were in the library and all of a sudden I see a guy wearing a University of Utah sweatshirt. And I was like, hey that's not normal in New York. So we went to say Hi! (assuming he is a member) So we say "Hello, are you from Utah?" and he's like "you could say that" then awkwardly walked away. Just goes to show you can't trust anyone who goes to the U! Haha!!

3. Ok, this was the funniest. Sister Hansen and I were standing on a door step waiting for the person to answer the door. In front of the door was two pairs of shoes. One was a pair of Adidas, the other Crocs. So Sister Hansen says "did you know that Adidas stands for 'all day I dream about shoes" and I'm like "did you know that 'Crocs' stands for 'completely repulsive, offensive crappy shoes" and then we busted up laughing. Of course RIGHT THEN the guy came to the door. Needless to say that wasn't our best door approach.

4. Things Elder's have said to us when they answer the phone...

    - "You sisters are liars and cheats"
    - "hey. what's the difference between Greek Yogurt and normal Yogurt?"
    - "Flaeg, flaeg flaeg. cepture all the flaegs" - sung in a Russian accent.

Anyway, that was the week. Nothing too mind blowing. But something that has really hit me this week is the idea that miracles can be small. I think a lot of the time I walk around thinking, "Ok, where's my miracle? Where is that crazy amazing experience?" And I don't see it, so I feel like we aren't succeeding. And then I remember the scripture that says "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass."  Miracles seriously happen to us EVERYDAY. We are so blessed. I think we need to focus more on the simple tender mercies of the Lord, and less on the huge "ammon-like" miracles.

Keep being great!

XOXO,

Sister Langford

 

 

Loving/Hating Day Light Savings, Winter's Here, Missionary Pumpkins, & Baseball!!

 Well hello everyone.

If we are being completely honest, this week was kind of slow. Not too many crazy exciting things happened... but fear not because I always have SOME story to tell right?

So here are the random goods...

1. I got to sleep in yesterday #daylightsavings. It was the best morning of my life. Like, can we have daylight savings everyday? Except here's the bad news with that, it gets dark here now at like, 5:00.... So that makes missionary work kind of rough. But we just keep trying to be creative with ways to find people at night!

2. There was straight up frost on our car yesterday. It's cold kids. Like scraping off ice, foggy breath, 2 pairs of tights, cold. I am already dreading winter.

3. After 5 months of living in the home of baseball, I was finally dragged to the Hall of Fame. It was cool I guess. Neither of us know anything about baseball so we were like... "Hey thats a cool cow that is dressed like a yankee's fan." But hey, it mixed up the daily routine so I'm not complaining.

4. Halloween was cool. Basically we went to the hospital to visit one of the elders who had to get surgery.   Then we baked with Grandma Dorothy and then we longingly watched the Halloween parade from our window and carved baby sized pumpkins to look like a missionary. Ah, holidays as a missionary are rad.

 Ok. now for the missionary stuff...

 

1. Ok I don't know what this wasn't the very first thing I wrote about buuut..... one of our investigators QUIT SMOKING! ok... not totally officially. But we were told us that he hasn't bought any new cigarettes and that he feels weird everytime he smokes now! YES. Miracles do happen.

 

2. So we were bopping around Cooperstown, trying to think of someone we could talk to that we haven't already harrassed 1000 times. We were knocking on this door and I thought, "Hey what about that red house?" We hadn't tried the red house in a while and I couldn't rememer who lived there (because naturally I can tell you who lives everywhere in Cooperstown).  So there we go, knocking on the red house. The lady came to the door and I remembered that I had talked to her before (about sister wives.... ugh), and she said she still wasn't very interested. But then I felt like we should ask if there was anything we could help her with. She all of a sudden looked really shocked. Like, she didn't believe that we would just help her with something. So, kind of testing us, she goes, "Well, would you rake my leaves?" and we were like "YES!!!!" So, the leaves were raked. Then afterwards we got to chat with her for a while and at the end she said "Well, maybe I will join your church!" (kind of joking but hey!).  She said she wanted us to come back, and she referred us to a couple of her friends! it was the greatest!

3. We picked up a new investigator! So far our goal of picking up at least one investigator a week has been going swimmingly! This new investigator is the sweetest lady ever and she bakes wedding cakes. So... we get cake everytime we see her. Hey, I'm not complaining!

 And the jokesters....

1. Everytime the District Leaders get off the phone with us they ask "is there anything we can do for you?" So naturally we always ask for things (like doughnuts and puppies).  The other night we asked if they would sing to us... and they did. Too good. We were probably laughing our heads off.

2. Elder on drugs from his surgery... "No, seriously. You sisters are the bomb.com/mormon.org"

3. Elder - "Think about all Christ did for you, and you can't even give the missionaries a freaking name!?"

....and an uplifting quote to keep ya'll on the straight and narrow...

"Unless you belong to a church that requires sacrifice of all that you possess, everything that you have and are, even at perhaps the cost of your life, unless you belong to such a church as that, that church could never build within you the faith that you need to obtain eternal life." - Joseph Smith.

 Mmmmmmm BYE NOW!

 

XOXO,

Sister Langford

 

 

 

"Seventy on Monday, 50 People a day, & Baking with Grandma Dorothy!"

THE BLOGGGGY

Hello hello!

Ah! This was a goood week! But here is the bad news, winter is setting in. I even busted out my huge puffy coat and hat. It was weird.... ugh New York winters are not to be enjoyed I can tell you that much! But, it's all good, because people are more willing to let us into their houses! Yay!

Ok, so here's the news from the week...

1. Remember how a general authority was coming on Monday to speak to us? Well he came. It ended up being Bruce R. Porter of the Seventy. He gave a really great talk about the gospel of Christ. Very motivating. At the end of the meeting, he said he would like to interview a couple of missionaries. He started reading some names (all elders) then he ended with "and Sister Langford" I was like.... "um what?" So I was pretty nervous! But it went well and it was so cool to get to chat with a general authority!

2. At the beginning of this week we were feeling a little bit... blah. Like, how can we get anything going in the area? Why are things being so hard? Just along those lines. So we decided to have a special fast for our area. That morning, I stumbled up this quote by Jeffrey R. Holland,

" After considering all that missionaries go through and all that the prophets have gone through, all that the apostles go through, the lives that have been given, the blood that's been shed - I have come to this conclusion - salvation is not an easy experience. It was never meant to be easy and it never has been easy.... it was not easy or painless for the Son of God Himself, of whom you are to testify. And if I am going to be his missionary, if I am going to declare his truth and His church, I cannot ask to avoid completely the pain that He felt, or the tears that He shed, or the sorrow He saw."

I realized that it wouldn't be easy, but we could do it. So we worked. That day was so great! We made a lofty goal to talk with 50 people a day! So far it's going good and we have found some amazing potentials and been given some truly inspired ideas for how to find people! I know the Lord is looking out for us and good things are to come...

3. Like being GIVEN the coolest investigator EVER! His name is Deacon and he just moved here from Arizona. He has already been taught everything and is 100% ready for baptism. But his story is AMAZING! Wanna hear an abbreviated version of it? Ok cool.

So around 12 years ago, Deacon was sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was married and had two baby girls. He was in a really dark, lost and lonely place. He really did some soul searching and found God in his life.  Then, at the very end of his sentence, he became jail-mates with a guy who was Mormon. They had MANY discussions about the gospel. Finally Deacon read the Book of Mormon and KNEW it was true. He knew he had found what he was looking for! When he got out of prison, he got permission to be baptized!

So now he is in New York and his wife has said she is ok with him getting baptized! So we are teaching her as well!!  Such an amazing blessing! And such a powerful story!

4. Trish is doing amazing and LOVING her calling in the Young Womens! 

Ok, so now you probably want to hear about the crazy, funny things right?

1. During PEC our mission leader was reading our progress record and looked at Cody and Travis, and saw that we were wondering when Cody and Travis could get the priesthood. But instead he just said...

" So, the sisters are wondering when they can get the priesthood?"

oh man. too good.

2.  "I'm not going to change. I've been in New York too long" - Elder

3. "All I want is for this purple hamster to turn into a scarf!" - Sister Hansen

4. *guy trying to ask us on a date*

"So are you ladies, like, married to Jesus or what?"

5. *Elders trying to think of creative finding ideas*

" number one, invite people over for a hammock party. number two, ask the sisters for ideas"

6. We were talking to this guy who was from some random Arab country and he said "I will pay for you ladies to come to my country"

...... um.....

It was a funny week :) We also found a cat named Nigel, helped Grandma Dorothy bake like A THOUSAND treats, and so much more! haha

Well, good things to come in Cooperstown, I can promise that much!

XOXO,

Sister Langford

Great Halloween Decor and "darn that free agency!"

 Hey kids.

This week was a so-so kind of week. Good things are happening but no way cool miracle stories. But hey, keep reading because I promise this will still be good :)

MISSIONARY WOOOORK:

1. Trish and her family are still just doing incredible. I always just feel like I'm on cloud nine when we leave their home. This Sunday Trish was given a calling to serve in the Young Women's. She's excited! It will definitely be a good way to help her feel more involved with the branch! Cody, the oldest of the boys, had a really good missionary experience this week. He said in his history class they were defining the word "missionary". His teacher said that he didn't think religions really had missionaries any more. Cody raised his hand and was like "um... no. The Mormon's have missionaries!" and his teacher said "How do you know that?" and Cody said "Because I'm a Mormon!" in front of his whole class! :D I LOVE THE HOPKINS!

2. Our other investigators are progressing like champs. They even text us and make sure we are going to come over and visit them! Its soooo great! They came to church yesterday and are VERY excited for their upcoming (in December) baptism. It's very happy.

3. This was one of those "knock on a thousand doors" kind of weeks. Its crazy how often people can recognize that there is something good and different about our church, yet still won't change! like.... what? This one guy was going off forever about how incredible it was that our church was growing, when almost every other christian church was withering away. We were like, ya, because this is Christ's true church. Hello!! But he still didn't want to change. Curse people and their agency.

4. Last night we met a really nice lady. We sat down with her and taught her the whole restoration. She was a little skeptical about how their could be ONE true church. We kept trying to explain Joseph Smith and the priesthood and all that. Finally she goes, "Well, if you are going to tell me this, you are going to have to have proof!" So I said "Well, what would you say if I told you we had proof. Proof that you can hold in your hands, read, ponder, and KNOW what we are saying is true?" She just looked stunned. Like, she didn't honestly expect us to have proof. So she just stared at us. *we pull out a Book of Mormon* I said "This is the Book of Mormon. This is the proof. If you want to know if Joseph Smith is a prophet and if there really is one fully true church, then read this book, and pray about it." Well the spirit was "knock your socks off" strong. Yet she still wouldn't take a Book of Mormon. We were like, WHAT?!? Just take the dang book. So as we left, we snuck back and left a Book of Mormon on her door step. Here's praying something good comes from this seed :)

HUMOR:

Ok, this week SO MANY funny things happened. I don't know why, but the humor was just rolling this week.

1. *as we are leaving Viktoria and Ian's*

Viktoria- "You guys are like the White Rabbit. You are always late for a very important date."

2. As one of our service activities we help bring people to a prayer circle at the old folks home. So for like 45 minutes we basically walk around and try and get old people to go and pray. While we were doing that this week, Sister Hansen said...

"All we do is try and get people to do things they don't want to do. Its exhausting!"

3. The Halloween decor out here is off the hook. People just make all of these extravagent... and terrifying yard displays. For example, we stumbled upon a Zombie apocolypse. It was pretty rad. and also hilarious. Ah, New York...

4. *As we are walking into the old folks home*

Old man- "Hey, you ladies dropped something"
*us really confused trying to figure out what we dropped*
Me- "Us? What did we drop?"
Old man *laughing really hard* "Your footprints!"

...some people can be kind of weird.

And that's  pretty much it. Like I said, not the most exciting week. But we keep going. Cooperstown must still need me here. :)

XOXO,
Sister Langford